When Worlds Collide
by Skatenotjate
Summary: Kate escapes the marshal in the alt time line, not with the help of Sawyer or Claire, but because of two random Lost fans. Skate to follow in later chapters. Please read and review! SAWYER APPEARS!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Evershort (Brittany) and I do not own Lost. We're just two crazy fans who got a crazy idea for this fanfic one night. No money is being made off this work.

Reviews make us happy! Please submit one!

I was excited to see Abby again. It had been three years if you excluded her one week visit to tour colleges last year. Since then, I had moved to California after receiving a fairly decent job at one of their public libraries. It had been my intention to escape the cold winters of Pennsylvania and it seemed that Abby thought the same thing about Illinois when she started to search for colleges.

Unfortunately, her strict parents would not let her travel out of state unless she paid for her housing. This would be next to impossible because she would have to work full time just to get a closet sized apartment near California State.

In the end, I volunteered to let her live with me while she went to school. Her parents would save money, and, as I pointed out during the negotiations, my apartment did have two bedrooms. I used the second room as a work/storage space, but I could fit everything into one room. I wasn't in college or graduate school anymore.

Her parents agreed to try it for one semester. She stayed at my apartment for a week while she toured various colleges in the area. Abby got accepted to several but ended up deciding to attend California State, mostly because it was close by. Walking distance, really. No car meant zero money spent in gas.

So she was moving in and I just hoped that my two bedroom apartment would be big enough for both of us long term. I hadn't had a roommate since college and, truthfully, I wasn't looking forward to it. Still, Abby seemed nice enough, and who was I to deprive her of California's warm weather?

I ran a hand through my hair, glanced at the clock, and headed to the car. Her plane was scheduled to arrive in an hour and a half. Sure, the airport was only fifteen minutes away, but what could I say? I like to be early.

Maybe I'd stop at one of the gift shops in the airport and buy Abby a shirt that said "Welcome to California!" Did they make those?

Probably. Or something like them.

As it turned out, I misread the time on the email Abby sent. Instead of being an hour early, I was two hours late.

The 1:30 had looked suspiciously like a 3:30.

She was waiting near the baggage claim and wearing a grumpy look on her face.

Or what I assumed to be a grumpy look. I wasn't too familiar with her facial expressions. Maybe she was just hungry or something.

"Sorry, sorry!" I panted, reaching out to hug her. "Misread the time."

"Yeah, I figured." She smiled as though to say it was no big deal. "Got my bags."

She had sent most of her stuff to the apartment but she was still carrying a lot of luggage. At least four large bags, plus her purse, which was big enough to be a small backpack.

"Got everything?" I asked, looking around.

She nodded happily. "Can you help me with some of it?"

I tried not to roll my eyes. "Sure, sure. You hungry?"

"Starved. The food on the plane was so gross. Usually they have something that's not so bad, like peanuts or a muffin. But the peanuts were way salty and they didn't have any muffins! Plus, the juice tasted like someone had already drank it," Abby said, slinging one of the bags over her shoulder.

I hadn't realized she was this talkative. Well, at least we had a few things in common.

For instance, when Lost was on, we both watched compulsively. We owned DVDs of all the seasons—though I waited for over a year after the final season was out so I could get it cheap used. No way were the writers going to get a cent of my hard earned money after they declared "Jate" and "Suliet" to be destiny. Sure, Sawyer and Kate has escaped the island and some fans (okay, so I was one of them) still wrote post island Skate fanfiction. But the principle of it irked me. The writers had spent three seasons developing Skate, only to throw it away on the whim that Sawyer and Juliet seemed to have good chemistry. My only explanation was that the writers had gone crazy (and possibly addicted to drugs) starting around season five. It didn't destroy the show, but it made the show a lot less appealing.

Still, we both loved the show's earlier seasons. We both wanted to find "our Sawyer".

Neither of us were having much luck, but Abby was only 17. She had time.

I was just about to ask Abby if she wanted to stop at IHOP for lunch when she dropped one of her bags on my foot.

"OW!" I practically snapped. "Quit that!"

"Sarah, you will not believe this!" Abby practically shrieked.

I rolled my eyes. "You've got the wrong bag?"

"I SEE KATE!" she squealed.

"Abby, wake up. This is real life, not TV. Kate Austin is a make believe character."

Okay, maybe I sounded harsh, but if there was anyone who wanted the show to be real, it was us.

As a result, we were the ones who had to be the most careful distinguishing between fact (our life) and fiction (Lost).

"Sarah, I'm telling you, it's her."

Suddenly, a voice came onto the intercom. "Attention, we have a code 341. Repeat, we have a code 341. There is an escaped prisoner by the name of Katherine Anne Austen. The suspect was wearing a white shirt and tan pants. Please be on the lookout for this person!"

Abby began to jump up and down, tugging at my arm. "It's her! It's her!"

Sure enough, heading right for us was the person in question.

"Oh my goodness…"

"KATE!" Abby yelled, before I covered her mouth with my hand.

"Shut up! Do you want her to get caught?"

"No…but we can help her."

Abby said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Let's grab her."

Yes, I said that. Me, the one who was supposed to be looking out for my seventeen year old cousin.

We were about to become participants in a major crime.

Then again, we were also about to meet our favorite character from Lost.

When you looked at it in that way, there was no reason to hesitate.

A small part of me wondered if helping a wanted criminal was the smartest idea, but I told myself that the fact that Kate existed in this life meant that the Lost universe wasn't totally accurate. There had been an alt universe after the characters died. Who's to say we weren't living in the _alt_ alt universe?

Hey, according to the laws of our country, Kate was innocent until proven guilty! We were heroes for fighting to uphold the laws our forefathers had worked so hard to instill. Hadn't we fought a war over this?

Well, this and some other stuff like having a say in government and taxes…

Right, not a history lesson.

We ducked out of view, then approached Kate. Grabbed her arms before she knew what we going on.

I felt kind of bad for her. Her eyes bulged out and she tried to fight us off. Except she couldn't because even though there had been a jacket over her hands, there wasn't anymore. She was handcuffed.

I grabbed the "Welcome to California" shirt and put it over the cuffs. She looked at me as though I had gone crazy.

Well, maybe we had. Then again, I had lived a pretty conservative life up until now. It could be that I was due for some insanity.

"We're gonna help you," Abby explained, still holding one of Kate's arms in a death grip. "C'mon!"

I'm sure Kate could have fought us off but she must have thought she stood a better chance with us than with the police. She nodded briefly.

"Let's go."

We walked quickly. I let go of Kate's arm, but Abby still had her in a death grip.

"You gotta stay with us, Kate," she insisted, her brown eyes widening. "Cause we're gonna help you."

"Who _are_ you?" Kate asked as we walked. I hurried to pick up two of the bags but Abby had slung hers over her shoulders. That girl was going to pull a muscle. Still, more important things at hand.

"We're the good guys," I explained simply.

Thanks for reading! Please let us know what you think by leaving a review.


	2. Chapter 2

Finally, we managed to get Kate into Sarah's car. Who knew we'd end up helping a criminal? Wow. We could get in serious trouble for this.

"So, tell me again," I picked a bobby pin out from underneath my hair and gave it to Kate. "What are we gonna do when we get back to your place?"

"I haven't exactly thought that one out yet…" Sarah took a corner sharply. She should really drive more carefully, if we were to get pulled over by a cop, I'm playing stupid.

"Oh. Well, you _do _have food, right? Cause, me being hungry for an extended amount of time ends in me being hungry _and _cranky."

It was the truth. If you kept me away from food for too long, then you'd have to deal with me and my attitude, which wasn't very nice on a normal basis anyways. But when I'm not in a good mood? Well, it's not pretty.

"Are you seriously talking about food? Now?" Sarah gave me a look.

I shrugged. "Well, what else am I to do? Talk about the weather? Which, by the way, beats Illinois by a long shot."

"Um, maybe think of a way to open those cuffs-"

"You underestimate me, cousin." I looked pointedly at Kate and rolled my eyes. "I gave her a bobby pin like, three minutes ago."

"I don't know whether I should be proud or scared to say we're related."

"Oh, don't worry. If you decide to lock me out, I can pick the door lock too."

"Definitely scared," Sarah glanced at the backseat, where Kate was picking away at the handcuffs. "But in a proud way."

"Yeah, you should be."

But seriously. What are we going to do? It's not like we can just toss Kate out one the streets and just ditch her there when Sarah and I get home. And even if we could, it's like we would anyways. This has got to be the craziest thing to happen to either of us. Ever. And we obviously had to help her out anyways.

We could go to jail. But, I guess that'd be okay. I mean, it's worth helping out Kate! We'd only go to jail if we were to get caught…we could hide out for a few days. But we can't disappear, that's too suspicious…

"Why are you helping me?"

Sarah and I glanced first at each other, than in the backseat to Kate. It was what, the second time she's spoken?

"Well, why wouldn't we?" Sarah questioned.

"Yeah, I mean, you're only like, the coolest person ever. Next to Sawyer, of course, but that's a total different story!"

"Who's Sawyer?"

"Only like, the most awesome person out there!"

Sarah shot me a glare. "Abby, I don't think that's particularly helpful, is it?"

I shrugged. "No, I suppose not, but I still felt like saying it."

Sarah sighed, but was smiling. How does she do that? "We're here,"

"Finally! What, do you live like, an hour away?"

"Actually, it's like fifteen minutes…"

"Well, it felt like an hour, I'm starving." I hopped out of the car, grabbing my four bags from the trunk while assuming Sarah was helping Kate. Though there's not much to do, seeing as she got her cuffs off, and I'm pretty sure that she can open a door for herself now.

"Jeez, Abby! Seriously, you're going to pull a muscle!" Sarah grabbed two of my bags again and managed to unlock her door. We all piled inside, and I dropped my bags with a loud _thud_.

"Right! Home sweet home. Now, you have food, right? Cause, food helps me think. Thinking leads to ideas. Ideas that could possibly help us to figure out what to do, or they could just end in me being really tired - no, wait, that's a lie. I don't get tired too much. I'm a night owl, so, you know, if we ever need someone to sit watch, I'll totally do it, okay, so-"

"Abby!"

I stopped talking. "What? Why are you so snappy?"

"Well, I didn't think you were so talkative! Plus, we gotta figure out what we're gonna do. Our situation isn't exactly looking so good at the moment." Sarah nodded to the kitchen. "Though I seem to remember that you love Doritos. There's a bag sitting on the counter."

I grinned. "I knew you were my favorite cousin for a reason."

After I grabbed the bag, I ran to the living room, purposely sliding across the hardwood flooring before plopping down on the floor with a pillow. Kate was sitting on the couch, looking confused and hesitant…can you _look _hesitant? And Sarah was on a chair.

"Alright! So, here's the plan…"

Please leave us a review! Pretty please? We promise, it will only take a minute…


	3. Chapter 3

I rolled my eyes. "Wait a minute, Abbs, okay?" I said, using my pet nickname for her. I turned to Kate. "Do _you_ want anything to eat or drink?"

Abby, who had been chomping down on the family size bag of Doritos like she hadn't eaten anything in months, jumped up.

"Do you have pepsi?" she asked.

"In the fridge." I got up. "Kate, do you want anything?" I asked again, feeling very awkward.

She stared at me as though I had grown an extra arm. "How did you know my name?"

"Long story. Food? Water? Soda?"

Kate sighed. "Anything's fine."

Well, this was going to be difficult. I was not exactly a great hostess any day of the week, but if my favorite character from Lost was turning out to be broody, sulking, and uncooperative, it might not be worth helping her escape. Sure, I had imagined Lost being real and helping out some of the characters. In my imagination, though, Kate was a lot more grateful.

Still, I'd only known this person for what—thirty minutes? She was scared. Had to be. Two deranged teenagers had kidnapped her while she'd been attempting to escape the police. Had it been me, I would have been in tears.

Okay, so I was not really a teenager. In fact, I was a lot closer to thirty than twenty. But everyone thought that I looked like I was still in high school. Even at my job, I got people asking if I was going to remain at the library as a page after my summer job ended.

Breathe, Sarah. Inhale, exhale. Don't blame the convict for your failure to think things through. Or Abby. She was only seventeen—I was the adult in this situation.

Kind of.

Giving Abby a warning look, I headed from the living room to the tiny kitchen, which took all of five seconds. One thing I liked about my apartment was that when I was in the kitchen, there was this wall thing that had been cut in half so you could look out while cooking and see what was going on. Sure, if I had been working at the stove Kate could have attacked me from behind, but at least I wasn't cut off from the action.

I returned a few minutes later with sodas, pretzels, chips, and peanut butter and bread. Also my fruit bowl which contained apples, a very small orange, and three bananas. Plus a lemon that had never been opened and probably never would be. Plus utensils.

Because if I was going to be responsible for Abby for the next several months, I had to make sure she was at least _near_ healthy foods. Doritos didn't count as lunch, no matter how many she ate.

I grabbed some napkins and paper plates from the counter and put everything on the table. Abby was watching hungrily and even Kate smiled a little when she saw food. She took two slices of bread and began to make herself a sandwich. Abby grabbed an apple, Doritos momentarily forgotten. They both helped themselves to sodas.

"Mmm that was so yummy!" Abby announced after she finished hers in two gulps. "Sarah, I _cannot_ believe you do not drink soda."

"Believe it," I muttered.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Kate finished two peanut butter sandwiches and an apple while Abby downed her second soda and her apple. She was reaching for the pretzels when Kate spoke up.

"So, what's going on?"

Silence. Abby's hand wavered in front of the pretzels.

What _were_ we doing? How could we tell Kate everything without her thinking we were crazy? A very Locke-esque thought popped into my head: was it our destiny to help her?

Stupid. Destiny or not, Kate was here. In my apartment. Eating my food. Opposed to being escorted to some filthy prison by a man who seriously needed to be taken down a few pegs.

People become drug addicts in prison. They get raped. They get beaten up. I'm saving Kate from all of this. Sure, she killed her father, but he had it coming to him. Heck, she probably didn't even know what she was doing at the time. The police who had pursued her had killed and harmed more people than that. The scumbag had it coming. He had probably tried to molest her. Kate was a victim in this whole thing.

"Well," I began, not very helpfully. "Abby and I have heard about you."

Abby nodded eagerly. "But we're on your side. We wanna take down those idiots…"

I cleared my throat. "Abby, relax." I turned to Kate. "We're here to help. You can stay with us for a few…for as long as you need. If you need money or anything, I can probably help you there too. Basically, we know about what you did, and you're _not guilty._"

I emphasized the last part.

"Yeah, because I mean, that guy was totally a creep and…"

"Abby."

"Sorry." She resumed munching on the pretzels.

Kate looked like we had told her we were flying cows. "Wait, you both _know_ and you still want to help? You sure you don't have the wrong person?"

Abby spoke up. "Well, you're kind of wanted for murder and setting your house on fire. You killed your dad."

Kate nodded. "But I'm innocent."

"Well, duh."

Thank you, Abby.

"I wasn't even near there when it happened. But I'm not going to report the person who did." Kate paused. "I just want to clarify that I'm innocent. You're not helping a murderer or arsonist."

"It doesn't matter if you did," said Abby. "We're still gonna project you."

I sent Abby a glare. What was it going to take to get my cousin to shut up?

She got the message.

Okay, time for damage control. Kate was not guilty. At least, she said she wasn't guilty, and given that she thought we were going to help her when we believed that she _was_ guilty, she had no reason to lie. If anything, Kate could have let us believe that she had committed these crimes because for all she knew, we were psychotic like that and enjoyed helping wanted murderers escape.

So, she was not guilty. Not guilty. But how?

"The alt timeline," I muttered, hoping Abby could hear me but Kate couldn't. "She's innocent."

Abby nodded in understanding, but Kate was starting to get paranoid.

"If my innocence is a problem…"

"It's not." Abby smiled. "We know about you. We just didn't have all the facts straight. Your stepfather, who turned out to be your father, did abuse your mom, right?"

Kate's reply was terse. "Yes."

"Then you're the person we're supposed to protect."

"Supposed to? Are you two working for someone?" Ever so carefully, Kate eyed the room, no doubt checking to see how fast she could escape. Or what she could use to knock me and Abby out if we tried to stop her.

No, Kate wouldn't hurt us. It was stupid of me to think that she would.

I cleared my throat. "We just met and we probably don't totally trust each other. Right?" I aimed the last part at Abby. "So, just know that you're safe here, but it's not like we're holding you captive. You can leave if you want."

Obviously, I hoped she wouldn't.

Kate nodded. Maybe she thought we were on the run as well. Or that whoever had killed her father (my guess was Juliet) had orchestrated her escape. Via us.

Man, this was way too confusing.

Then, she smiled. "Well, you two seem safe enough. I'll stay here."

She didn't add "for now", but she may as well have.

Oh well. "For now" was a whole lot better than not at all.

Plus, the fact that I was not really sheltering a murderer meant I didn't have to worry about going to hell if I couldn't make it to confession next Saturday. Of course, I wouldn't be sorry for sheltering Kate so the confession would be no good…

Didn't matter. Kate was innocent. Abby and I were helping someone who needed it. We were kind of heroes, when you thought about it…

My train of thought was interrupted by Abby bouncing around and squealing. "This is gonna be so much fun! Okay, first we gotta take you to the mall because you need new clothes. No offense, but people will notice if you're always wearing the same thing. Um, Sarah, should we get her hair dyed? I bet she'd look good with red hair."

Kate practically growled, "You're not touching my hair."

For once, Abby was speechless. I grinned for like the millionth time that afternoon.

"We'll get the clothes online. She can stay here for now."

"I can't ask you to do this…" Kate began. "I had money but…"

It was Abby's turn to interrupt. "Kate, this experience is worth sooo much more than money. Besides, Sarah's loaded."

"As you can tell by my great apartment," I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "But yeah. We're going to help you unless…"

Before Kate could reply, a large brown and white cat entered the room and plopped down on her lap.

"Meow," he greeted, stretching out on her lap.

"Kate, meet Sawyer," I introduced. "He's usually pretty shy, but it looks like he likes you."

"Of course he does, Sarah. He's _Sawyer._"

"You know you two are crazy, right?" Kate asked as she began to stroke Sawyer's back. He began purring loudly.

Yup. We were definitely insane.

Authors' note: See, Sawyer made an appearance! Well, kind of. Don't worry, we'll be bringing the real Sawyer into the story soon. Just not yet.

Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaase leave a review! We'll send you fish biscuits!


	4. Chapter 4

Authors' note: We're combining point of views in upcoming chapters. It will say who's telling the story in italics. Kate may or may not have her own point of view.

_Abby…_

Sawyer continued purring as the three of us sat in silence, thinking. Well, it would be silence if you didn't count the part where I was still eating Doritos, but I was eating them much slower than I had been.

Also, more quietly.

"So, is this the Sawyer you were talking about earlier?" Kate looked pointedly down at the cat, who was stretched across her legs and half the couch.

I smirked. "Sawyer? No, she just named the cat after the real one."

I regretted letting that slip as soon as I said it, but Kate just nodded. She probably thought I was talking about the one from Mark Twain.

Sarah smiled in that way people get when they talk about their pets. "It fits him. His breed is supposed to be all mellow and loving, but let me tell you, Sawyer's got some attitude problems. Don't you, Sawyer?" she cooed, reaching over to pet him.

He just closed his eyes and nestled further into Kate's shirt.

"I think all cats have attitude problems, it's just whether or not the problems bother people." I started saying what was on my mind. "Like, once, my aunt had this cat, Bibs, and she just did not like me, and she scratched my face."

"But," Sarah cut in with a loving glance at Sawyer, "he's not like that. He just gets cranky. Like Nala."

I grinned. "Sawyer's not as fat as Zoey's cat. Yet…"

"Sawyer is not fat!" Sarah laughed. "He's just fluffy. Anyway, he runs around _all_ the time."

Kate carefully placed Sawyer, whose eyes were now closed, on the couch and stood up awkwardly.

"Would you mind if I used your shower?" Kate stopped petting Sawyer and looked at Sarah, who stood up, probably to get towels and whatnot.

"Not at all. This way." She started walking towards the hallway and Kate trailed behind her. Looking around when she thought no one wasn't looking. Probably checking for emergency escape routes.

I hear Sarah continue to talk about the shower, which I knew to be a clear indicator that she was nervous. "Sometimes the water pressure is pretty bad, but it's okay around the afternoon. There's shampoo and conditioner…"

A couple seconds later, the sound of the shower was accompanied by Sarah's footsteps as she came back into the small living room.

Grinning widely.

We were like two obsessed fangirls in the presence of a boy band. Except that Kate was way cooler than some boy band.

"How cool is this?" I spoke up after we'd been quiet too long for my liking.

"If you'd call helping a supposed criminal cool, then very."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, yah. But, it's _Kate! _As in, Kate from Lost! Lost as in, only the best show out there - that is suddenly real, or somethin', mind you! Are you seriously tellin' me that while on the outside you're calm, but on the inside you're not freakin' out?"

"Exactly." Sarah also rolled her eyes. "I'm freaking out."

"Well, you don't sound like it." I smirked.

Sarah smirked. "That's because I can hide my emotions better than you."

"How do you know? Maybe I'm just pretending to be all crazed, when really, I'm calm. I'm a good liar, you know."

"I would say that you're just lying about being a good liar, but then, that'd just be proving your point." Sarah laughed and I nodded with a smile.

I started thinking again. So, now, instead of living with my cousin Sarah in California while I go to college, I'll be living with my cousin Sarah in California, with Kate Austen, and I could possibly go to jail.

Well. My friends back home always joked that I'd end up in jail, anyways. But it didn't matter. How are we to even get caught? Sarah didn't speed through any red lights, so the traffic cameras wouldn't have our picture, and when we walked up to Sarah's apartment it just looked like we were visiting relatives. Which, I technically was, but I wasn't really visiting, more like moving in.

But…

"Hey Sarah," I looked up at my cousin. "Aren't there like, tons of security cameras at airports?"

She nodded slowly.

"Don't you think if an escaped criminal got out, they'd be searching those cameras?"

She nodded again, eyes wide.

"What are we gonna do? I didn't plan on getting caught!" I stood up. "It's not like I would go back and reverse what we did, but cops could be coming! Then what? We all end up in jail, and my parents will murder me! Not to mention that it would be our fault that Kate got recaptured!"

Sarah looked worried for a minute but then relaxed. "Abby, breathe. Like you said, there's tons of cameras. Its going to take awhile for them to search and even get a glimpse of Kate in the first place."

I nodded slowly. It made sense. Kind of.

"When she gets out of the shower, then we'll talk about our next move." Sarah took the bag of Doritos from me. Smart move. If she didn't, then I'd end up with a massive stomach ache sooner or later. "You need real food."

"I wonder if she met Sawyer," I mused.

"My guess would be that we got to here before he did. Should we ask? She had the jacket around her arms, so she definitely made it out of the bathroom."

I shrugged and moved to the couch, sitting by Sawyer. He was sitting right in the middle where Kate left him. I played with his tail as he lay on his back and purred, as though to say, "I am _such_ a nice kitty."

Ten minutes later, we were still waiting. Turns out, Kate takes long showers. Or maybe she was just lost in thought. I know I would be if I were her. I mean, she _was _just taken by two girls, one barely out of high school, practically forced into the backseat of a car, and lead into a house while being told that "we're here to help you".

I think I'd end up having an asthma attack - and I don't even have asthma in the first place.

I wondered what she thought of us…I know the reaction I usually got from people was along the lines of: Wow, you're a really loud person who speaks fluent sarcasm. But, still. Kate just met two people, who she has never, ever met before, who were willing to help her even though they know full well what she's done. And, they believed her to be innocent.

Not just believed, but helped her escape.

Even if we did kind of kidnap her in the process.

Still. She could leave whenever she wanted. Kate knew this.

Yeah, I'd say we're a bunch of crazy lunatics.

Once I heard the shower turn off though, I went to my bag and grabbed out my laptop. As I sat back onto the couch, I saw Sarah giving me a weird look.

"What?"

"Did you just go into a random bag and find your computer, or did you know it was in that specific one?"

I laughed, hitting my power button. "I knew it was in that bag. Besides, it'd be more of a random choice had I not decided to ship all my books here - cause I have tons."

"I've realized…so, what are you doing?"

"Well, she's gonna need clothes, right? And you said we should order them online. That's what I'm doing. I'm just getting my Internet up so when Kate's done in the bathroom, I can just give it to her to find what she needs."

"…Good point."

_Sarah…_

Kate emerged from the shower wearing one of my bathrobes and a nightgown that ended a few inches below her knees. It had been longer on me, but I had read somewhere that Evangeline Lilly was five foot seven, so Kate had to be about that tall. Right? I mean, if Kate's a real person, then the actress' height or personality or whatever shouldn't have anything to do with her. Well, anyway, Kate was taller than me. I guess I reached her chin when we were both standing?

She had to feel uncomfortable. As uncomfortable as I'd feel wearing pajamas in front of strangers.

"You sure this is okay?" Kate asked me, gesturing towards my clothes.

Well, nightclothes? Nightgown?

Whatever.

"It's fine," I said, at the same time Abby chirped, "Sorry, nudity is a requirement here."

I felt my face turn bright red. "She's just kidding."

"Well, duh." Abby smiled angelically. "You look great. I mean, you always look great, but you look…"

"Abby, shut up or else she's going to think you're some kind of deranged celebrity stalker," I hissed.

"Um…celebrity?" Kate took a seat on the couch.

Sawyer immediately jumped into her lap. Kate stroked his ears.

"Well, you are kinda famous," Abby replied by way of explanation. "And no offense, but you probably couldn't get away with wearing that outside. You'd attract attention."

Kate smiled wryly. "I'm not offended."

"I'd offer to let you borrow some of my clothes, but they're probably not what you're used to." I gestured towards my current outfit, which consisted of an old navy t-shirt and an ankle length peasant skirt that had yards and yards of fabric.

One of the reasons I moved to California was so that I could always dress in my spring and summer wardrobe.

Actually, the shirt might fit Kate, but she was taller so our sizes were probably different…

Kate smiled at me. "I'm pretty tired."

"No one dresses like Sarah," Abby interjected. "People think she's Amish. Or Mennonite. Or an orthodox Jew. Or one of those extreme Mormons…you know, the kind that have a bunch of wives? But she's not."

Kate nodded politely.

Now was so not the time for Abby to bug me about what I wore. So what if it was unconventional? I liked it, the people at my job had no problem with my taste, it was a lot more modest than what Abby or most of my friends wore, and I wasn't hurting anyone. Excuse me if my taste did not conform to "fashion". I set my own rules. As far as I was concerned, Abby and her friends were the ones who had no taste.

Breathe, Sarah.

"I own pants," Abby added helpfully, "but you're like five inches taller than me. They'd reach your knees."

Kate shook her head. "It's not a problem. Look, I can just wear what I had on. I don't even need to wash them that often…"

It was my turn to object. "No, if anyone saw you they'd recognize you immediately. We're gonna have to buy you clothes online."

"I have money," Kate offered. "I worked for this guy in Australia and he paid me before I left. A lot of it got lost with my luggage, but I still have almost five hundred dollars left."

"Keep it," I insisted. "You might need it later. Besides, I always use ebay and you can get stuff super cheap there."

Kate raised her eyes but I shook my head.

"Consider it compensation for kidnapping you," Abby spoke up.

Kate snorted. "If you hadn't, I'd be on my way to jail now."

"No, you wouldn't," I replied, remembering what happened on "What Kate Does".

Abby nodded. "Yeah, you totally would have found a way to escape. But this is better than hiding out in the streets until you meet Sawyer."

Kate glanced down at my cat questioningly. Sawyer yawned at her and rubbed his head against her legs. Abby realized she had said something stupid, and wisely fell silent.

I handed her Abby's computer, then took it back. "I forgot…have to log in first."

I typed in my user name and password before handing Kate the computer. "Here you go. Need anything else?"

"Sarah…"

"Just try to keep it under three hundred dollars. For a week or so. I don't want the credit card company to get suspicious." I turned to Abby. "Help me unpack your things."

"Which one is my room?" Abby asked, getting up.

"_Our room_ is to the right. Kate's room is across the hall."

As soon as we were out of sight, I explained. "She has to have privacy, Abs, and there are only two rooms. But look, I have a couch that pulls out into a bed, okay? It's really comfy."

Abby pouted for a minute before realizing that I made some sense and besides, this was for Kate.

"Oh, all right," she grumbled.

Two hours later, I was out two hundred dollars. In theory. In reality, Kate had only spend 87.92, but the charge with the rest of the auctions would come down to just over two hundred dollars. Assuming the bids didn't go past what they were.

A big assumption, but then again, Kate showed a lot of restraint. She didn't go for fancy names or anything, just clothes that were her size. Mostly jeans and t-shirts/tank tops. A couple of bras and underwear. One set of PJs. On Abby's insistence, a light sweatshirt.

It never got cold enough to need anything heavier than that in San Diego.

Kate's choices generic to the extreme.

I always believed you could tell a lot about someone by their clothing. Take me. Long super full ankle length skirts covered with flowers, and shirts from Old Navy. Sandals or old sneakers. Clearly, I was a girly girl but hadn't inherited the love of shoes my half of the species was known for.

Kate was obviously trying to look inconspicuous. Part of a crowd. Even though she had to know that she wouldn't be going out in public right away.

Or maybe she just didn't want to spend too much of my hard earned money.

Sawyer had taken an instant liking to Kate. Right now, he was curled up in her lap, purring away as though he didn't have a care in the world.

Well, of course he didn't. He's a cat.

Anyway, while Sawyer napped, Kate shopped, and Abby munched on some carrots and a peanut butter sandwich, I just sat on one of my chairs feeling awkward. Sure, this was my apartment, but it was now being inhabited by a cousin I hadn't seen for years and a supposed criminal. I adored the Kate I saw on TV—I often said that the writers could kill everyone else on the island but if they had Kate and Sawyer get together for good by the end of the show, I'd consider that a happy ending.

It was a little different being with Kate in real life. This wasn't Evangeline Lilly—who I had never met. This was a person who was a fugitive and had escaped the country and possibly killed her own father. Yeah, her father was a creep who had abused her and her mother and probably deserved it, but still.

Actually, she hadn't. This was the alt timeline. So someone…probably Juliet or one of the other characters I disliked…had done the killing. Had framed Kate. So, Kate was still on the run, but she may not have been on the run for several years. I wondered how the police found out. Maybe whoever committed the crime alerted the police.

What if it had been Kate's mom? Now _there_ was a twist.

As nervous as I felt around my favorite character from Lost, I knew Kate was safe. She wasn't a murderer. She was harmless. Humans reacted toward danger with fight or flight. Kate used flight. So, she was as scared of us as we (well, I) were of her.

Except my fear came from celebrity hero worship and not from the fear that I was sheltering a murderer. Because of course celebrity hero worship fear cancels out real fear.

Even though she was innocent.

Now, especially, Kate looked harmless. More than that, she looked kind of scared. As though me and Abby were working for the cops and had a gun ready to use on her if she refused to cooperate. I tried to smile at her, but I think I just ended up scaring her. I tend to do that when I give what I call "awkward smiles". Basically, when I try to do the socially acceptable thing but don't feel it and think I'm just acting and everyone can tell I'm acting.

"Well," I said, for lack of anything better to say. "Abby, did you unpack most of your stuff?"

"Some of it," Abby replied, brushing some hair out of her face. "I don't know where you want me to put everything."

"You start classes a week from Monday, right?"

Abby sighed. "Classes start a week from Monday but I have this stupid orientation thing all of next weekend. It's a requirement. It's so stupid because it's not like I'm even living on campus…"

"Exactly. So, it can't hurt to get to know some of the people you'll have classes with."

Abby rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting. At least audibly. Her stomach began to growl. I glanced at the clock. It was almost 6:30 at night. Early. Then why did it feel so late?

Authors' note: Sawyer the human will probably show up within the next chapter or the following chapter.

PLEASE please please leave us a review! Reviews make us happy and make us more likely to update…not to mention we can't know what you want if you don't tell us.

So, please be a nice reader and leave a review!


	5. Chapter 5

_Sarah_

Two hours later, I was out two hundred dollars. In theory. In reality, Kate had only spend 87.92, but the charge with the rest of the auctions would come down to just over two hundred dollars. Assuming the bids didn't go past what they were.

A big assumption, but then again, Kate showed a lot of restraint. She didn't go for fancy names or anything, just clothes that were her size. Mostly jeans and t-shirts/tank tops. A couple of bras and underwear. One set of PJs. On Abby's insistence, a light sweatshirt.

It never got cold enough to need anything heavier than that in San Diego.

Kate's choices generic to the extreme.

I always believed you could tell a lot about someone by their clothing. Take me. Long super full ankle length skirts covered with flowers, and shirts from Old Navy. Sandals or old sneakers. Clearly, I was a girly girl but hadn't inherited the love of shoes my half of the species was known for.

Kate was obviously trying to look inconspicuous. Part of a crowd. Even though she had to know that she wouldn't be going out in public right away.

Or maybe she just didn't want to spend too much of my hard earned money.

Sawyer had taken an instant liking to Kate. Right now, he was curled up in her lap, purring away as though he didn't have a care in the world.

Well, of course he didn't. He's a cat.

Anyway, while Sawyer napped, Kate shopped, and Abby munched on some carrots and a peanut butter sandwich, I just sat on one of my chairs feeling awkward. Sure, this was my apartment, but it was now being inhabited by a cousin I hadn't seen for years and a supposed criminal. I adored the Kate I saw on TV—I often said that the writers could kill everyone else on the island but if they had Kate and Sawyer get together for good by the end of the show, I'd consider that a happy ending.

It was a little different being with Kate in real life. This wasn't Evangeline Lilly—who I had never met. This was a person who was a fugitive and had escaped the country and possibly killed her own father. Yeah, her father was a creep who had abused her and her mother and probably deserved it, but still.

Actually, she hadn't. This was the alt timeline. So someone…probably Juliet or one of the other characters I disliked…had done the killing. Had framed Kate. So, Kate was still on the run, but she may not have been on the run for several years. I wondered how the police found out. Maybe whoever committed the crime alerted the police.

What if it had been Kate's mom? Now _there_ was a twist.

As nervous as I felt around my favorite character from Lost, I knew Kate was safe. She wasn't a murderer. She was harmless. Humans reacted toward danger with fight or flight. Kate used flight. So, she was as scared of us as we (well, I) were of her.

Except my fear came from celebrity hero worship and not from the fear that I was sheltering a murderer. Because of course celebrity hero worship fear cancels out real fear.

Even though she was innocent.

Now, especially, Kate looked harmless. More than that, she looked kind of scared. As though me and Abby were working for the cops and had a gun ready to use on her if she refused to cooperate. I tried to smile at her, but I think I just ended up scaring her. I tend to do that when I give what I call "awkward smiles". Basically, when I try to do the socially acceptable thing but don't feel it and think I'm just acting and everyone can tell I'm acting.

Yeah, I kind of have self esteem issues. Sort of. I guess this wasn't the best situation to test my normalcy.

Kate gave an awkward smile back, which almost caused me to start laughing.

"Well," I said, for lack of anything better to say. "Abby, did you unpack most of your stuff?"

"Some of it," Abby replied, brushing some hair out of her face. "I don't know where you want me to put everything."

"You start classes a week from Monday, right?"

Abby sighed. "Classes start a week from Monday but I have this stupid orientation thing all of next weekend. It's a requirement. It's so stupid because it's not like I'm even living on campus…"

"Yeah, but you might, so it can't hurt to get to know some of the people you'll have classes with."

Abby rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting. At least audibly. Her stomach began to growl.

I glanced at the clock. It was almost 6:30 at night.

_Abby_

This whole orientation thing for college was going to suck. Badly. I didn't even have to go to it for another few days, yet I'm already dreading it.

It's like I'm back home, and it's the night before I wake up and go give another school speech. I sit there, try to go over my not-so-greatly memorized paper, and imagine all the embarrassing moments and soon-to-be mess ups. I may talk a lot, but in front of a crowd of people I happen to not like? I talk too fast for even my standards, my words are pronounced incorrectly, and my hands shake.

And orientation…I know I'd be fine back home, where all my left-behind friends were attending colleges where they knew at least one person, and I could stand with them, teasing each other as always. But here in California, I knew like a total of two people. I was going to a new school, in a state where someone was going to know at least three other people in their college.

And like I've thought about tons of times: I could possibly, accidentally give away that we happen to be sheltering someone believed to be guilty of killing.

Though, that's also a slim chance. It's not like I start blabbering away to random people I barely know. To someone I don't know too well, I'm silent, shy, and pretty much hidden in a shell. But when you know me, I'm loud, outgoing, and I let my sarcasm roam free. Kate was basically an exception, as I'd been so hyped up on meeting her, moving to California, all that jazz.

It's funny, because Sarah kind of sees herself in the same way. She's really quiet and reserved until you get to know her. Unless you're even more quiet than she is and then she feels like she has to chat about anything and everything.

Not that I know about this from experience. It's just what she told me.

I sort of fit in right away because I look normal. Sarah…how do I put this? She doesn't. Looks like she came from Little House on the Prairie or Amish country or wherever. It's great because she's easy to spot from a distance and she's happy with being an individual. It's just a little weird.

Whatever. It would only be a problem if the police saw the tapes and realized that one of the people helping the wanted prisoner escape was wearing a long skirt and then saw her and she was wearing pretty much the same thing.

Did guys even notice that stuff? Once, I dyed my hair blue for a week and the only people who said anything were my girl friends. My dad didn't even say anything.

Well, maybe that was because my mom warned him not to. I was kind of going through a funk then.

Anyway.

I stood up, knocking over a bag of forgotten food of some sort. I laughed. I happen to love food, almost as much as reading, but I had such a high metabolism it never really showed.

My sudden laughter earned me several more looks with the hidden meaning of: _you are such an odd child. _But I shrugged them off and continued on my way to the kitchen, where I threw the food into a cabinet, still thinking about stupid orientation.

I happen to be thinking a lot lately…I'm not exactly sure that I like it. A thought popped into my mind, and I reached into my back pocket, pulling out my phone.

Ten minutes later, I happily bounced back into the room. Sarah obviously noticed my enthusiasm, and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, seriously! Can you teach me how to raise one eyebrow?" I threw my hands into the air, previous excitement replaced with something new. I've always wanted to learn to do that, it would go along with my smirks I throw at people on an every day basis.

"Maybe, if you tell me what got you so happy. Cause like ten minutes ago, you were staring out the window, looking completely dejected."

"That was _before _I texted my friend back home asking about the kid he knows in Cali," I shortened the use of my new state. "Apparently, he knows a guy who's going to my new college, same age as me! Now I won't be alone…okay well I will, cause I don't really actually know him, and my friend back home is gonna talk with him and stuff…" I trailed off, looking back at Sarah.

"Hey, where'd Kate go?"

Sarah laughed at my lack of observation. "She went to bed probably…twenty minutes ago? I don't know, but you were in the same room when she said she was tired."

"Oh…well, I was thinking. Be happy at that." I smirked. "Though I don't blame her for goin' to bed so early…must have had some crazy day, bein' in her position."

Sarah nodded her head in agreement. "I'd assume you're not tired…?"

I shook my head. "Nope, not in the least. Partly cause stupid orientation has got my mind running in circles, and partly because it's hard for me to be tired in general, as I said earlier. I think."

She nodded again. "You did. But you'll be fine. You said that one friend of yours knows someone…so you have a mutual friend now. I'm sure sometime soon you'll get a call from one of the two, and you'll talk about…something, and then later you'll know at least one person."

I shrugged. "You said it. That means when it doesn't happen, I can come blame you."

Sarah laughed at my serious tone but smiling face. "I'm sure you will."

"Oh, I will Sarah. Don't doubt me on that one." I was still smiling. On the outside, anyway. I'm one of those people who dread the first day of school, because they hate sitting in a class where they know absolutely no one. I always feel so awkward, seeing everyone else in their own little groups and then I'm sitting there, hoping that in the last few minutes before the bell rings, someone I actually know and like will walk through the door.

I remember for my first year of high school, both semesters of Algebra One, I didn't have someone I felt comfortable with. By the end, each semester in Algebra had given me one more friend, but since it isn't my best subject, going through that class was kinda hard without someone I felt comfortable with to ask for help.

My thoughts drifted towards Kate. I wondered yet again how she was taking all this in. It must've been hard, her life. The man she hates abuses her, and she later finds out he's her biological father, while the person she believed to be her real dad actually wasn't. Though by my standards, your parents aren't defined by blood, they're someone who takes care of you. Like if you're adopted? Your adoptive parents are your real ones, and your bio parents are just that - bio parents.

I pushed my bangs out of my face, and looked at the couch. Sawyer was still there, which kinda surprised me. He seemed like the type of cat that would prefer to stay out of sight. Then again, I've only ever had dogs as pets, never cats. Today is actually the first day in my entire life that I haven't had a dog.

Now that's gonna be a problem.

But seeing as we have all this stuff going down…I'll be dog-less for awhile. But as soon as things cool down, and I got college under control…you can be that I will be annoying Sarah for a long time.

Sarah stood up. Glanced at the clock.

"I know it's early, but I'm going to head to bed too. Stay up as late as you want, but don't make too much noise."

I nodded. "Hey, can we get a dog?"

"No way. I had to work hard to convince my landlord that Sawyer wouldn't be a problem."

"Speaking of which, where is he?"

Sarah shrugged. "Exploring, sleeping. Chasing a piece of string. Cats aren't like dogs, Abby. They don't come when you call them."

I grinned. "Wouldn't it be funny if he was sleeping with Kate?"

Sarah snickered. "It sure would convince the Jaters that Skate is fate. Even the cat Sawyer can't stand to be away from Kate."

"Well, they were bonding pretty well earlier. But that's Sawyer for you. Well," Sarah paused. "I guess that's the ragamuffin breed, really. Sawyer's a sourpuss considering they're supposed to be so friendly."

"Yeah, but isn't that what makes him so cute? It totally fits with his character."

"You know, I'd remind you that Sawyer was fictional, but now that we know Kate is real, it's only logical that Sawyer's real too. I just hope his being a cop doesn't interfere with our keeping Kate safe."

"No way. He may be a cop but he's still Sawyer. He's cool."

"Think we should try to track him down next?" Sarah mused. "Once we get Kate settled in."

I nodded. "He'll probably clear her of everything. Then the two can get married and have a billion babies." I squealed. "They'll be sooo cute."

"Let's make sure they meet first. Also, that she doesn't go to jail because of him. Or us."

_Kate_

She stared around the room, feeling awkward and uncomfortable with the whole situation. Physically and emotionally. The nightgown Sarah had lent Kate felt short and too tight to be comfortable. She was taller than her, and apparently heavier. Or at least had a different frame. She took off the robe and debated taking off the nightgown, but decided against it. What if she had to get up in the middle of the night? What if the cops came while sje was sleeping?

Kate would just have to be uncomfortable for a couple days. Until the clothes arrived.

The two girls were weird. How they knew about her notwithstanding, who would grab an escaped wanted criminal and say they were rescuing her? Did those girls have no sense at all? Hadn't their parents taught them not to trust strangers?

Well, whatever they were thinking, it worked. For the moment, Kate was free from the feds.

The cat crawled into the room and jumped on the bed. What was his name again? Sawyer?

"Hey, kitty," she cooed, taking a seat on the bed.

He rolled over on his stomach and began to purr. She rolled my eyes, pulled back the sheets, and watched as he settled himself on one of the pillows.

"Hope you're comfortable."

The tone was sarcastic, but Kate was smiling.

Falling asleep wasn't hard. She had been tired most of the day. Running from the cops could be draining. Plus, spending fourteen hours on a plane—and being oggled by the marshal—was hardly relaxing. Really, Kate probably hadn't slept through the night in a few days.

Also, the bed was extremely comfortable. The sheets were soft, and the blankets were warm. The quilt someone—probably Sarah—had placed on top smelled nice. If she had been in the mood to appreciate the room, she would have admired the way Sarah had set things up. The room wasn't exactly big, but it was pretty. Almost spacious, the way everything was arranged. There were two windows that may have provided a nice view, but the shades were down and they would stay like that.

Kate wasn't _that_ stupid.

She slept pretty well. At one point, she was awakened by a piece of fur crawling around my chest, but as soon as the creature purred Kate realized it was just the cat. When she woke up, he was cuddled around her shoulders, partially draped around her neck and her chest. When Kate tried to shoo him away, he just gave her this sorrowful look.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Stay."

He quickly got over it, though, and as soon as Kate was out of the bed, he was stretched out where she had been sleeping.

Kind of reminded her like Tom.

_Don't think about him,_ she ordered myself.

Grabbed the robe and left the room. Not sure where she was going, but feeling hungry and hoping there would be food somewhere.

Got a glance at the clock before leaving the room. It was after ten. She had been asleep for over fifteen hours. Well, she must have needed it. Kate felt much more awake than she had the previous day. Also had some questions to ask her kidnappers.

Then again, maybe she didn't want the answers.

One of the doors was closed, so she figured Sarah or Abby was still sleeping. The door to the bathroom was open, so she went in and locked the door. A new toothbrush was lying on the sink, still in its wrapping. With a new container of toothpaste. A hairbrush, also in its wrapping, was next to the brush. Two bars of soap in a box, obviously Kate was supposed to use one for her face and the other for her body. Deodorant. Last of all, two bottles—one containing shampoo and one containing conditioner. Both wrapped. There was a note pointing to these with an arrow and the word "Kate". She smiled reluctantly. That was nice of them.

Maybe it wouldn't be too bad here. The girls seemed nice enough. The cat was clearly in love with her. No idea why, since she had never owned a cat in my life. Just a bunny when she was nine. For two weeks. Wayne probably killed it. He'd had rabbit for dinner a little after the bunny had gone missing. But he often ate rabbit.

She brushed her teeth vigorously for a few minutes and ran the brush through her hair. It didn't look too bad. It wasn't like Kate was going anywhere.

After she left the room, she called out tentatively. "Um, hello?"

No answer. As Kate walked around, she came across the washer and dryer. Her clothes from the previous day were neatly folded on top of the dryer. Relief flooded her. Grabbed the clothes, headed back into the bathroom, and changed.

_Much_ better.

Headed back to the kitchen. There was a bowl of fruit cup on the table, a couple boxes of breakfast cereal, and a note.

_Good morning, Kate!_

_Hope you slept well. I left some things out for you in the bathroom. Let me know if you use a different kind._

_Here's all of the cereal I have at home. There's also oatmeal on the shelf above the refrigerator. Milk's in the fridge. We have skim and 2%. There's also orange juice in the back Other food is in the cabinets, but I have to go shopping soon. Let me know if you want anything. The list is on the refrigerator._

_I'll be home from work around six-thirty. If you need anything, let Abby know. _

_Have a great day!_

_Sarah_

_P.S. If you have a sweet tooth, there's popsicles and ice cream in the freezer. Help yourself!_

Well, the girl was certainly organized. And generous. When Kate had worked for the guy in Australia, he just gave her half of whatever he made. When she told him she didn't eat meat, he stopped giving it to her. Still. Wasn't like he gave her a lot of other options. Considered that she might have a massive sweet tooth. Somehow, that always made her feel like stranger, the hired help. Not at first, but after she had refused to open up, he just figured it was a business relationship. Worked well enough, but this was something new.

But maybe that was her own fault for refusing to open up.

Kate hummed a little as she poured herself a bowl of cereal and filled half a glass with some milk. Checked the other room, but the door was still closed. Abby must be sleeping.

She spent a lot of the morning looking around the apartment. Two bedrooms, obviously. The kitchen was tiny, so Sarah probably ate in the dining room or the family room. The room Sarah must now share with Abby was open, but Abby was inside, snoring loudly. It was a girly room without being over the top. Cute posters of small animals, a few scenic pictures and posters. Some DVDs, a small TV. A lofted bed, which must be where Sarah slept. Underneath that bed was Abby's bed. It was a tight fit. Her head was inches from the desk. She's bang her head if she sat up too quickly.

The closet was open and the clothes were total opposites. On one side hung some jeans and a few medium length dresses…on the other side were long, super full skirts in practically every color. Not that the skirts were solid colors. Mostly, they had various shades and types of flowers on them. Kate remembered that Sarah had worn something like that the previous day. Hadn't Abby made some comment about it? Well, they were pretty, but Kate was glad to use the excuse of height to avoid wearing one. She'd trip over every set of stairs she encountered and then worry about the skirt tangling around her legs. Not to mention what she'd have to put up with whenever she went to the bathroom.

Not worth it. At least, not for Kate.

She wondered if the other people at Kate's job dressed like that. California was pretty diverse, she'd heard. It would be kind of funny if everyone at Kate's job dressed like a hippie version of Little House on the Prairie.

Kate got a flash just then. An island. A very attractive guy. Him yelling about something and her yelling back.

She shook her head. "I'm just tired," she muttered to herself. "Gotta eat something and then figure out what to do."

Kate left Sarah's room and headed for the kitchen. As she ate, Sawyer sat on the table, staring at her intently. Did cats eat cornflakes? When she tried to feed him one, he wouldn't even look at it. Figured.

Kate heard Abby's footsteps as she was cleaning her dish in the sink. Her hair was done in two messy braids and she was still wearing her pajamas. She yawned loudly and then brightened once she saw Kate.

Or maybe it was when she saw Sawyer.

"Hello you silly willy kitty!" she cooed, picking him up from the table. "And where were you last night?"

"He spent part of the night in my bed," Kate replied as Sawyer meowed in protest.

Abby giggled. "He can be friendly when he wants to be. Can't you, Sawyer Wawyer?"

"Meow," the cat practically growled. Jumped out of her arms and left the kitchen.

Abby just rolled her eyes. "He's a real brat sometimes. Likes Sarah, but has real issues with most people. Good thing he's cute."

She opened the refrigerator and took out a container of skim milk. Grabbed the cheerios from the second shelf. Found a bowl without looking and began to pour the food into it. Grabbed a spoon, also without looking, and began to eat.

"Sarah has the best food," she announced, sitting down at the small table. "If you want something and it's not here, just let her know. She'll pick it up for you right away. Unless it's like 2AM. Did you eat?"

Kate nodded. "Just finished."

Abby spotted the stray cornflake on the table. "You try to feed him?" Without waiting for an answer, she plowed on. "Don't bother. He'll meow and look sad but he only eats cat food. He won't touch anything else." She paused. "Well, except chicken, but Sarah doesn't make that very often. Even then, he'll act like he's doing you a favor by looking at it."

Abby gobbled up the rest of the cheerios. "Did you check the auctions? See anything good?"

"Not yet. Didn't Sarah take her computer with her?"

"Naw, she always leaves it at home. Doesn't want to risk it being broken or stolen. But she told me earlier to help you use it if you needed it. Woke me up to tell me, actually." Abby grinned.

She disappeared into the hallway and returned a few minutes later with the laptop. Pressed a few keys and Kate was online, staring at her auctions.

"Cool, you won a few things. You know how to pay online?"

Kate didn't. Or, to be more accurate, she didn't know Sarah's password to finish the transaction. Abby did, though.

"Mmmkay, in a few days the pants and shirt should be here. Not sure about the other shirt, though." She pointed. "That one ships from New York."

A half hour later, Kate had a reasonable sized wardrobe paid for. Good. She was itching to get out of the nightgown.

"Sarah washed your clothes from yesterday. They're on top of the dryer." Abby nodded towards the hallway. "Even though you're not going anywhere, she figured you didn't want to stay in her nightgown all day."

Considerate. Kate nodded. "I'll just change."

She wouldn't shower again, but she would brush her teeth and fix her hair. It was still loose from the night and must look pretty rumpled.

"I'll be here," Abby grinned.

Kate wondered how long she could take this without the claustrophobia getting to her. There was a reason she never stayed in one place for long. Not to mention, her safety in the apartment came at a risk for Abby and Sarah. Maybe she should just leave. Keep them separated from the drama.

Because that's what it was. Kate hadn't killed anyone. The whole situation felt so unreal, it made more sense in a daytime soap opera than as part of her life. Her life hadn't been ideal, of course, but these things didn't happen to most people who went through rough childhoods.


	6. Chapter 6

Abby

I looked at the college with a dramatic sigh. Standing in the shade of a nearby tree, I was waiting for Seth, the guy who my friend back home knew. We'd agreed to meet here around the start of orientation, which began about five minutes ago.

Sticking my thumbs in my back pockets, I lent against the tree, glancing around.

Kate had been around for a few days now, and I'm assuming she's a tiny bit more relaxed than she had been previously. I could tell she wasn't _completely _at ease, I don't think anyone could be in her situation, but at least Sawyer liked her.

The cat Sawyer, anyway. If it had been human Sawyer I was talking about, I'm sure I wouldn't be wasting my time at an orientation that I don't even need to go to. Or want to, for that matter.

Speaking of which, I noticed someone waving at me.

"Seth, I assume?" I asked the guy.

He laughed. "That depends. Are you Abby?"

"Yepp, you're Seth." I said more to myself then anyone. He gave off a smile and we headed towards the front doors.

We heard the usual talk you'd expect to hear from the college people: where they lived, what they plan on majoring in, whether or not they were excited to get away from their parents…kinda like high school.

"Soo, you're from Illinois, huh?"

"What?" I turned to look at Seth. "Oh, yeah. How bout you?"

"I've lived here since about tenth grade. Used to live back in Illinois, though," he clarified. "That's how I know Kyle."

Kyle, meaning my friend who knew Seth and was the reason I now knew Seth, he means.

We walked in silence for awhile, which wasn't all too weird seeing as I barely knew the guy anyways. But I turned to him suddenly.

"Hey, did we go to the same school? At any time?"

Seth grinned. "No, we didn't. We met once, though."

My eyes widened, and I turned to face him. "What? When?"

Seth shrugged. "I dunno, maybe it was ninth grade? One of your friends had a party, invited Kyle, who brought me. We only talked for maybe five minutes."

I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't want to be rude, if we'd met and became those short-term friends and then having him completely remember me and I totally forgot him. "Okay, good. No offense, but I don't really remember those five minutes."

Laughter followed my comment, and we continued walking, because we'd apparently stopped at my questioning.

"So, you're here to do…?" He trailed off.

"Well," I shrugged. "I love writing. It's probably gonna be a big part of my life. So something with that, I guess."

He nodded. "And your minor?"

"I dunno. I need something realistic for me, y'know? Like I love to learn about medical things, but, realistically speaking, I'm not even gonna try to be a nurse. Much as I like to learn about it, and I'm not squeamish in the least, it's not the place for me to be. What are _you _planning?"

I was talking too much.

Seth looked thoughtful for a moment, and then he scratched the back of his head in thought.

"My goal is to be a firefighter. Every kids dream at the age of ten, but here I am still hoping to be a fireman," he added, looking kind of sheepish.

"That, is pretty awesome." I looked at him with respect. "We are so staying in touch through out life, mmk? Firemen are awesome."

Seth laughed and nodded.

A little while later, after we'd exchanged numbers and walked around our new school for a bit, Seth and I made our way back outside. We ended up back by the tree I'd been at earlier, but there was a big crowd with some security here and there, talking to what looked like parents.

"By the way," I started, sitting down with my back against the tree. "Are you living on campus or what?"

"Nah, I'm off campus, like a block up the road. I live with my older brother, so."

I nodded. "Yeah, I live with my cousin."

After a few more minutes, mainly of me just watching all the cops roam around, I heard Seth take a breath as if to speak.

"Sooo…I'm assuming you like to read?"

"Of course! I _love _to read."

"Favorite book?"

I pondered for a minute. "Too many to say, though I'm in love with Harry Potter."

"Favorite TV show?"

"What is this? Twenty questions?" I demanded with a laugh.

He shrugged. "Sorta."

"Well. I absolutely love Lost, and always will. But since that ended, and really badly I must say, my new favorite is NCIS: Los Angeles. You watch it?"

He shook his head. "Not into those cop shows. Okay, favorite food?"

"Besides cookies? Chicken alfredo."

"Animal."

"Panda. And if they were real, dragons."

"Color?"

"Purple!"

This went on for a while. Sometimes I asked the questions, but a lot of the times, Seth asked them. It didn't matter, he liked a lot of the things I liked. He watched USA - the channel - all the time, same as me. Could quote any movie he'd ever watched, also like I could.

"Did you ever have an imaginary friend?"

"Psch. I still do. His name's Zack." I laughed. "My friend Emily had - or, has - one too. Her name is Wanda. and in seventh grade we decided that Zack and Wanda got married and ran off to Hawaii."

Seth gave me a look, one that I commonly got that says '_okay, you're weird'. _But I just laughed some more.

"So," I asked this time. "_My _favorite movie is a tie between Resident Evil: Extinction, My Girl. Or quite possibly Pandorum. I dunno, I have a _ton _of favorite movies. But! What's yours?"

"I'd have to say-"

He stopped talking, but I barely registered that. My mouth had dropped open in utter disbelief, and I was inches away from jumping up.

"What? Hey, Abby. What's up?" Seth poked me.

"Um…I think…hey did you ever watch Lost? Ever?"

"Maybe once. I couldn't figure it out so I stopped."

Yeah, cause you probably tried to start watching in the middle of season two, like everyone else who doesn't like it tried, I thought to myself.

Which was sad, because when you compared it to the later seasons, season two was one of the good ones. But if he hadn't started at the beginning and hadn't watched every episode, it would be hard to follow.

"Well, did you ever…" I took a deep breath, partly for air and partly to give myself a chance to think so I would seem at least somewhat coherent. "I mean, do you know the people in it? Like would you know one of them if you saw one? In a magazine, I mean."

Seth scratched his head again, giving me a weird look.

"Well…there was that bald guy. Had like a historical name, I remember that much. Then there was the chick with the baby. I could probably pick her out in a crowd."

"Anyone else?"

"The black kid? Maybe."

I nodded to myself. "Mmmk…just wondering. Hey, I have to make a phone call, so I'll be right back."

I walked away a good distance, squinting at the crowd of people while pulling out my cell.

I waited, and listened to the ring.

"Abby? Why are you calling? You didn't get arrested, did you!" Sarah's voice cut through my phone and into my ear.

"Don't I wish I got arrested…Sarah, you're never gonna believe this."

"What? Tell me you didn't get in trouble, you haven't even started college yet! You're parents are gonna freak, Abby-"

"No! No, I'm not in trouble, though thanks for thinking I was. But…okay, so here I am, at orientation, right? And I'm just sittin' here talking, whatever. And then it's like BAM! I look up, and there's some cops or whatever walkin around, y'know, just being there but! Believe it or not, I just saw the hottest cop in the universe."

Long silence. Then, "Abby, you called me…to tell me you saw a hot cop? Is that what you're saying?"

I slapped a palm to my forehead. "Sarah, you being you, I'm surprised you don't get it."

"What? Did he threaten to give you a ticket?"

Sarah's kind of anti cops. Or at least afraid of them. She got pulled over a few times, but it was always for something minor like driving too slowly or stopping too long at a stop sign. Never got a ticket in her life, though. She probably looks so scared when they see her that they think it's a sixteen year old who's been driving on their own for the first time.

Anyway.

"Someone you know! Someone we both know, both love, and someone we both want to _be with Kate!_"

There was silence on the other end of the conversation. I heard a bang and wondered if she had dropped something. Before I could ask, though, she began to speak in this freaky high pitched voice she uses when she's super excited about something. Not like hey I got an A on a hard test, but when she found out she got her job here and the salary was more than twice what she had been making back in Pennsylvania. She used that voice when I told her I got into my choice of schools in California, and then when I told her that my parents agreed that I could live with her.

"Are you sure? You're not just over-anxious to be at college that you're freaking out and seeing things? You're positive?"

I held the phone a few inches away from my ear. "Sarah, I'm _sure!_ I would know this anywhere, anytime of my life!"

"Just to be sure…you're telling me that you saw, or you're looking at, because no doubt you can't take your eyes off—and I will kill you if you are wrong or playing some kind of a prank—"

"Sarah!" I practically yelled.

She shut up.

"It was him. I swear on my life, on your life, on your cat's life, on my dog's life. I just saw Sawyer!"

**Sarah**

I was washing the dishes when Abby called with the news about Sawyer being one of the cops to visit her school and discuss Red Zone with the students during orientation.

Or, to be more accurate, scare the students about Red Zone so that they'd never leave campus without at least a few girl friends and guy friends to escort you.

See, Red Zone is the most dangerous time of the year for freshmen because their chances of being sexually assaulted are the largest then. They go to fraternity parties, drink a few glasses of alcohol (or what they think is alcohol—it could be laced with drugs), and then rely on a guy they just met to take them home. Next day, they find that they have no memory of the previous night, and later find out they were raped and drugged.

By that cute guy they met at the party.

I honestly don't know how effective the Red Zone training is. I guess awareness is better than lack of awareness, and it could stop some people from being raped and drugged, but honestly, some people just won't listen no matter how many times you tell them to be careful.

Not that I'm speaking from experience. I was the quiet girl who never went to frat parties, never drank alcohol, and lived in the all female dorm throughout her four years of college. The girl who's never experienced a hangover or pulled an all-nighter because she's too cautious.

Some people would say I missed a lot of the college experience, but I'd say that I ended up with a 3.9 GPA and a part time job with benefits—only a few months after to become full time thanks to hard work, people quitting for family reasons, and a good business relationship with my boss—exactly a month after graduation.

Truthfully, though, I definitely missed out on a lot of the social experiences, so while I wasn't going to encourage Abby to attend frat parties and hook up with random guys, I hoped that she wouldn't let classes _completely_ take over her life.

Which is the same message she got from her parents and is the same perspective that I think she has on things. Even though we're protecting a wanted criminal, even though I know she's innocent, she still has parents to please on the grades frontier.

I was actually lucky to be home when Abby called. Usually, I work until around 5:30 and get home around 6. Recently, however, the cataloging has been pretty minimal because even though we're ordering new books (my main focus), they haven't arrived yet and probably won't for the next two weeks. A lot of the stuff the acquisitions librarians ordered was on backorder, which means it will arrive eventually, but right now it's either out of print or too many people want it.

That day, I was finished all my work before 2PM, and after checking with other departments to see if they could use an extra hand (they couldn't—all of the catalogers were in the same boat and for the first time in the three years I had been there, there was not enough work for our staff to do), the head of my department basically told me to go home for the day.

So, I was finishing up the dishes around 3:30, when Abby called with the Sawyer news.

Of course, even I reacted the way a screaming fan girl typically reacts to such important news, in retrospect it seemed kind of obvious. We were clearly living in some variation of the alt timeline in Lost. Not that everyone was dead, this time, but the plane must have landed okay, so everyone got off in LA. Seeing Kate at the airport meant that Sawyer had been there too. Which meant that he was either visiting LA or lived there. And since he was at Abby's school for the Red Zone program, he must be a cop.

Hadn't we wondered if he had helped Kate escape shortly before we found her? Granted, our finding her may have prevented Sawyer from helping her, but hey, they still could have met on the plane. Or even earlier. We were living in _an_ alt timeline, which basically means that anything goes.

I knew how Lost had ended and, like the rest of the Skaters, had felt a mixture of hate, betrayal, a desire to get rid of all of my Lost DVDs, and a tiny bit of acceptance because at least Sawyer and Kate made it off the island alive, even if they weren't "destined" to be together.

I rarely swear, but to that I say, "Bull."

The writers became idiots, or succumbed to the jate and suliet (I wouldn't even capitalize those ships) temptation, or maybe were possessed by the smoke monster as they were writing the finale.

Skate is fate, period. Anyone who thought otherwise was misguided at best, and a blithering idiot at worse.

I tended to get worked up about this.

Anyway, now Sawyer and Kate were in the same town. Abby had some kind of access to Sawyer. She needed money for school, so maybe she could work in the campus safety department. If Sawyer worked directly with the school. I'd have to pick her brain later to find out what she knew. If Sawyer remembered anything. If Kate remembered anything.

How to get Jack and Juliet together. Because judging from Sawyer's reaction to Juliet's death at the end of season five, and Kate's reaction to Jack's death at the season finale, killing them was not only wrong, it would be counter productive.

I had a _lot_ to discuss with Abby when she came home that night. We'd have to go out to eat so that Kate wouldn't hear us.

Well, I _had_ promised to take Abby to IHOP…


End file.
